Brownie Create and Innovate

This year GSUSA came out with three new "maker" badges for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors.  This post takes a look at the VTK plans for the Brownie version of Create and Innovate to give you an idea of where this badge is going without having to dig through the whole  VTK plan.  As with the other badges in this series, the talking points are as important as the craft. 

Junior Math In Nature Survey Results

 This is the last in a series of posts looking at the Math in Nature badges as well as what people believe is necessary to earn them.  I surveyed members of some Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders to acquire the data presented and I make no representations about the data other than stating how I got it.  I have three other posts in this series:

• General information and conclusions
• Daisy Math in Nature badges
• Brownie Math in Nature badges

Junior Shapes in Nature 

Symmetry is the main topic for Juniors.  "Identify Symmetry in Nature" deals with lines of symmetry. "Explore Bilateral Symmetry in Nature" is about Bilateral Symmetry. "Create Nature Inspired Art with Circular Symmetry" is, yes, about circular symmetry.  "Find Fractals in Nature" is about defining and identifying fractals, and "Search for the Fibonacci Sequence" is about recognizing it in nature.  

Brownie Math In Nature: Survey Results

This is the third of four posts about the results of my survey of members of various Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders on the subject of the Math in Nature badges released by GSUSA a couple of years ago.  The first post talked about the people who responded and about the badges in general.  The second post focused on the Daisy badge.  I plan to write about the Junior badges but haven't gotten there yet. 

Survey Results: Daisy Math in Nature Badges

This post is the result of a survey I did of members of a bunch of Girl Scout leader Facebook groups.  I wanted to look at two things: 

1. The Math in Nature badges--did people like them, and how did they do them
2. Related to that, what did people think was required to earn them.

I think (at least hope) that all of us would agree that looking outside for round things and then counting them is not enough to earn these badges.  I doubt there are many, if any, people who would say that you have to read the VTK scripts to the girls and do activities exactly as planned there.  However there is a wide gap between these two, and I wondered what most people thought was actually required to earn a badge.  

You can read the survey from which this post was derived here, but obviously there is no point in responding at this time.  

Math In Nature Survey Results

 

I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my lengthy survey on the Math In Nature badges.  I wrote about these badges when they first came out and my troop did the Shapes In Nature badges for Brownies and Junior.  My posts will give you a good idea of what I think about the GSUSA plans.  

Daisy Create and Innovate

 If you look at the previous posts on this blog, you will see that this year GSUSA introduced three "Maker" badges for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors.  All these badges focus on planning and conceptual concepts, not on the skills to do particular crafts.  The third badge in this set is Create and Innovate and this post will look at the Daisy version of the badge.

Junior Craft and Tinker

 

This is the third in a series of posts on the Craft and Tinker Badges.  I previously wrote about the Daisy and Brownie plans.  I did this review by reading the VTK plans.  I do not have the badge brochure, and as I do not have Juniors, have no intention of buying it.  If you have it, I'd love it if you'd leave a comment about how it is different from VTK. 

Badge Steps

Learn how to make something with care, skill, and imagination and then improve it.

• Explore crafting and tinkering
• Tinker with a craft
• Learn about users
• Craft for form, fit, and function
• Tinker with your project

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to craft and tinker to solve problems.